Spreading the word Mustaches will help shed light on male cancers

Beth Anderson uses an electric razor to shave her husband, Jake, at the Movember event shave-off. The idea is to start November cleanshaven and grow a mustache during the month.

Chuck Kirman / Star staff

Jaden Winegardner uses an electric razor to shave off facial hair of Josh Lesser for a Movember fundraiser at Fox Sports Grill, to raise awareness of prostate and testicular cancer. From left, Alexis Anderson, Daniel Lesser, and Zack Anderson wait their turns. The money raised from the event will go to The Prostate Cancer Foundation and Livestrong.

Chuck Kirman / Star staff

Men throughout the Conejo Valley have made an unusual promise this month — to grow mustaches for awareness of men’s health.

The abundance of facial hair is part of a global movement called Movember, a combination of the words November and Mo, the slang word for mustache. Men start the month cleanshaven, then grow a mustache for the remaining four weeks to raise money for and awareness of The Prostate Cancer Foundation and Livestrong.

To celebrate the beginning of Movember, local residents held a shave-off Nov. 1 at Fox Sports Bar and Grill in Westlake Village.

“It’s such a quirky way of conveying a positive message that it’s going to generate interest,” said Jake Anderson, 38.

Josh Lesser, 37, and Anderson, both of Agoura Hills, said they started a local team for the Conejo Valley this year because men in general don’t pay enough attention to their health.

“It seems that men don’t want to talk about their health issues,” Lesser said. “They would rather sweep it under the rug and pretend it doesn’t exist. Women are more inclined to talk about something if it’s bothering them or if they don’t feel right, whereas men will hide it.”

Anderson said personal family connections motivated him to take action in getting the word out. When he was a child, his dad was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and his father-in-law was recently treated for prostate cancer.

“Most guys I know don’t go for their yearly check,” Anderson said. “Even my friends in their early 70s only go to the doctor if they’re sick.”

A group of Australians started the Movember campaign in 2003 as a bit of a joke to bring back the mustache. But when they realized they could change the “face” of men’s health, they started to recruit members and begin fundraisers.

There are now 255,755 Movember men in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, the Netherlands and Finland. Teams of men, Mo Bros, and teams of women, Mo Sistas, raised $42 million in 2009 with the help of more than 1 million donors.

The local group, called Flavor Savers, has already raised $1,000 for the charities and plans to raise $2,500 this year. The mustache will become a recognizable symbol of men’s health, just like the pink ribbon represents awareness of breast cancer, Lesser said.

“It’s a fun way to get the message out there, and we want our kids to see that we’re doing something important,” Lesser continued. “I really believe that they need to get involved in the community they live in so they can be better and productive citizens. And you can’t start teaching that when they’re 19 and 20 years old. You have to teach that when they’re little kids. What they do still has an impact on the community.”

Andrew Staiano, 38, a sociology teacher at Agoura High School, said he agrees that bringing awareness to children is especially important.

“We’re always teaching that with knowledge comes responsibility,” said Staiano, of Newbury Park. “I think it’s good that my students are seeing me putting what I talk about in practice, and the more I talk about it, the more people I have discovered that are affected by it.”

Staiano said he talked about the issues of men’s health with his students and held a class vote to choose the style of his mustache. The Movember brochure features caricatures of different types of mustaches with such names as The Trucker and The Undercover Brother. The students voted for Staiano to don the style of The Connoisseur, which shows a picture of an old-fashioned mustache that curls up at the ends. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to pull that one off in a month, but I’ll try,” he said.

To participate or join the local Movember team, visit http://www.movember.com, choose the United States region and search for the Flavor Savers group.

The page also features a link to donate money to the team.

“One thing that men can do to help raise awareness is to talk about it and get out there,” said Lesser. “The Movember event is the perfect example to say it’s OK to talk about your health. Together we spread the word to a lot of different men that will continue that.”